It was a frequent outburst over a slew of Facebook updates and tweets as Google Inc.’s (GOOG 538.94, +5.82, +1.09%) Buzz, its latest foray into social networking, got the wrong kind of buzz. This was probably not the kind of viral chatter the top execs at the GooglePlex envisioned when they named, perhaps prematurely, their newest product Google Buzz.

In Silicon Valley and beyond, many critics and consumers were saying “Buzz off” to the company’s attempt to turn its popular free Gmail service into a social network.

Google Buzz may be a lesson in viral backlash Therese Poletti’s Tech Tales